In Marketing There Are No “Pros” in Reaction

arts martiaux sur des poteaux

The commercials attempted to diffuse Walmart’s price advantage by stressing Publix’s use of BOGOs.

There are five problems with that:

1. Preaching to the wrong choir. If you were a price shopper, you would have discovered that Walmart is cheaper ages ago. So Publix shoppers by definition are not that price sensitive. Publix’s own “Where Shopping is a Pleasure”- one of the best, most beautiful and intuitive supermarket campaigns I’ve ever seen – clearly pointed that way.
2. Going against your own brand positioning. For years, Publix has been “Where Shopping is a Pleasure,” and now we are supposed to believe that they are cheaper than the company that made “cheap” its middle name? You know the old saw in physics: “What happens when an irresistible force meets an unmovable object?” It’s a trick question. Both can’t coexist in the same universe. Well, neither are most supermarket shoppers willing to consider “pleasure” and “cheap” in the same sentence -except for Target, but they did it on design.
3. Frustrating your customer. So now Publix offers “BOGO,” but if you go to a store, BOGOs are not only unpredictable (you never know for which products you’ll find them) but also probably not available for your staples, such as detergents, toothpaste, soft drinks and fruits.
4. Not showing the money! If you are going to compete on price comparisons, show me the comparison. Neither the TV commercials nor the silly purple banner by the door pays off the anti-Walmart promise: They don’t show price comparisons. Also, Walmart is using a very precise and, therefore, believable savings: 13 percent.
5. It draws attention to the Walmart position. By competing so ineffectively on the pricing front, Publix only manages to drive the attention of those of its shoppers who might be only “slightly” price conscious to the Walmart basic promise: save 13 percent.

Two clichés apply to my analysis: Everyone can be a Monday-morning quarterback, and hindsight is 20/20. Nevertheless, what would a proactive stance be?

1. Talk to your consumers and see how (1) aware are they of Walmart’s commercials, (2) relevant do they consider the Walmart basic promise to be and (3) why are they still shopping at Publix. Because Walmart is well known and Publix shoppers are loyal.
2. Tai sabaki, the “sliding” defense in many types of karate: Deflect the Walmart advantage by stressing the other factors you just heard from your shoppers. Service? Location? Short driving time? Great parking? Nice people? Fresher fruit?
3. Create predictable pockets of opportunities. Low everyday prices on some staples?
4. Find examples of merchandise where Walmart doesn’t win.
5. Perhaps not allude to Walmart’s advantage and campaign directly.

Perhaps it’s all of the above or some of the above.

But definitely putting a blank purple banner reminding every Publix shopper of the Walmart advantage is not the way to go.

Other articles by Marcelo:
Guerrilla Marketing, Promotion and Social Media
Three Essential Marketing Campaign Components
Create A Unified Strategic, Media and Creative Plan
Engage Customers With An Aligned Media Strategy
How to Use Product Targeting to Determine the Right Channel Mix
Thinking Physics to Increase Your ROI (part 1)
Using Consumer Clusters To Ramp Up ROI

Marcelo Salup‘s 30-plus-year career in advertising covers a wide range of everything. A wide range of roles–he began his career on the creative side, won two Addies, changed to media, included strategic planning and consumer insight and has been an agency owner several times. A wide range of venues: Spain, Latin America, international and the U.S. A wide range of clients that range from automotive to banking to electronics to fast food to soft drinks and much more. But can be summed up in four words : “Only Performance is Real.” His website can be found at www.marcelosalup.com.

 

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